What Is Diabetes and How Can I Manage It?

Updated:Dec 8,2015

Your digestive track breaks down the carbohydrates that you eat into glucose – a type of sugar – which gets absorbed into the blood. Insulin is a hormone that helps your body’s cells absorb the glucose from the blood and use it or store it for energy.

When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should, or both. This causes sugars to build up too high in your blood.

What types of diabetes are there?

There are two main forms of diabetes: type 1 and type 2.

Type 2 is the most common. About 90 percent to 95 percent of American adults diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. It most often develops in middle-aged and older adults. It’s often linked with being overweight, obese and physically inactive.

Insulin resistance is a condition where the body produces insulin but does not use it efficiently and blood glucose goes up. If uncontrolled, insulin resistance can lead to pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes usually starts early in life, but it can also develop in adults. It results from the body’s failure to produce insulin. People with it must take insulin each day to control their levels of blood glucose.

Am I at risk?

The number of people with diabetes is increasing. More people are overweight or obese, don’t get enough physical activity and don't eat a healthy diet. These factors can increase risk of type 2 diabetes. While type 2 diabetes has historically been more common in adults, younger people are developing diabetes at an alarming rate.

People in several ethnic groups seem to be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. These groups include:

Hispanic/Latinos

African Americans

Native Americans

Asians (especially South Asians)

How can I control my risk for heart disease and stroke?

Diabetes is a major risk factor for stroke and heart disease. Other major risk factors are smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity or obesity.

If you have diabetes, it’s very important to have regular check-ups. Work closely with your healthcare provider to manage your diabetes and reduce any other risk factors: